The UpTake: Charles Koch has become a bogeyman on the left for funding right-wing political causes. But here, he says what drives him is the fight against cronyism.

He's one of the most polarizing political figures of the past decade. He's also the CEO of America's second-largest private company. But is Charles Koch an upstart?

It's a good question with a complicated answer. Koch, CEO and chairman of the board of Koch Industries, rarely talks to the press but gave a long interview with Bill Roy and Daniel McCoy of one of Upstart's sister publications, the Wichita Business Journal. The interview is out today and the full transcript can be found here.

In favor of Koch's upstart standing is his commitment to innovation at Koch Industries, a multinational giant with interests in manufacturing, chemicals, energy, ranching, finance and much more. He, along with his brother David, boldly try to influence American politics, but do so from behind the scenes and without apology (an upstart move, whether or not you agree with their conservative, generally Republican-supporting approach.)

But Koch can sound decidedly old-school and quaint when talking about corporate competition, something he sees—when twinned with government regulation—as hurting the disadvantaged.

"What keeps people going is having a future," Charles Koch said in the interview. "And that’s my theory on the country. We need to remake it as a land of opportunity and not a land of dependency. And that’s what we try to do here. If you’re not innovating and not growing, if its just the status quo for everybody, then people don’t have that hope, and that optimism and that enthusiasm that you have when you’re driving for the future."

Since coming aboard with Upstart’s parent company, Kent has covered sustainability and business, entrepreneurs, technology, and venture capital. Now, he covers all the ways upstart businesses get their money.

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